


Haggis Comes to Town

by Pain_thats_it_thats_the_fic (Pippythewriter), Pippythewriter, We_had_a_bonding_moment (Pippythewriter)



Series: Ohana [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Ableism, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Author doesn't know much Spanish, Author is projecting onto Lance this time, Autistic Lance (Voltron), Autistic Pidge | Katie Holt, But it's definitely there, Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Hes the worst :), Hot Mess Express, If you do know Spanish and have any concrit or suggestions please feel free to let me know, Lance (Voltron) Has ADHD, Lance's dad's name is Haggis, Or anything about different dialects, Verbal Abuse, actually autistic, if you are triggered by any of these things please dont read, or graphic, the abuse isn't physical, to be clear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25587535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pippythewriter/pseuds/Pain_thats_it_thats_the_fic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pippythewriter/pseuds/Pippythewriter, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pippythewriter/pseuds/We_had_a_bonding_moment
Summary: Lance was on a high. Hunk chewed out a bully in front of the whole class, Pidge corrected their science teacher (which isn't really unusual but it was still hilarious), and Keith and Shiro were finally coming to dinner with his family and Hunk, Pidge, and Matt. Nothing could ruin this day."Now, is that any way to greet your father when you walk in the door, Leandro?"And then his father showed up.(Oh! Forgot to mention, this takes place about a month after 'I can tell that we are gonna be friends, and likely won't make any sense if you haven't read the rest of the series)
Relationships: Hunk & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Lance & Lance's Father (Voltron), Lance & Lance's Mother (Voltron)
Series: Ohana [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792009
Comments: 13
Kudos: 84





	1. Hurt

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my goodness! I am SO SORRY you guys! This took forever to write, and it's not even finished. There's a lot reasons why, but that's not important. 
> 
> Please enjoy the story :)

When Lance opens the door to the McClain household he's already talking a mile-a-minute.

"Mom you would not _believe_ the day I had! First off Hunk, _Hunk_ mom, _Hunk!_ Snapped at that jerk kid who's been picking on Pidge for the past week! Then in science class _Pidge corrected our teacher._ I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Hunk snapping I mean, not Pidge correcting- by the way I invited Pidge and Hunk and Matt and Keith and Shiro over for dinner. I hope that's-" Lance cut himself off in the doorway, frozen in place.

"Now, is that any way to greet your father when you walk in the door, Leandro?" Haggis McClain asks his son sharply. Lance avoids eye contact.

"No." He whispers, a far cry from the animated rambling of only minutes before. Haggis clears his throat, and Lance forces himself to meet Haggis' eyes. "No sir."

"Now what do you say?" Haggis asks condescendingly.

"I'm sorry, Dad." Lance practically has to force the words out, but he manages.

"That's right. Now what's this about inviting your 'friends' over for dinner without permission?" Haggis asks in an accusatory tone, and Lance tenses.

"I- um..." Lance stutters and trails off, eyes falling to the floor.

"Leandro! Eyes up here!" Haggis commands, snapping his fingers inches away from Lance's face. Lance flinches, biting back a retort that he knows will only put his father in a worse mood than he's already in, and forces eye contact again. "Now _tell me_ what you did, I haven't got all day."

_Deep breath in, deep breath out. Silently, don't forget to be silent._ "I in-invited my n-new friend Keith ov-ver for dinner, beca-cause he hasn't met mom ye-"

"You didn't ask first though, did you?" Haggis adopts that condescending tone that makes Lance's skin crawl again. Again, he bites back a retort. _He isn't worth it, don't make it worse._

"No sir." He forces himself to speak up.

"And why is that?" Haggis asks.

"I didn't think of it." Lance manages to get out, swallowing his pride. He's already bracing himself for the humiliation of his so-called father's bitter laughter and of course that's exactly what Haggis does.

"Why do I even bother asking? That's what it always is with you. _I didn't think._ Honestly, how I raised such an idiot I'll never know." You _didn't raise anything!_ Lance wants to snap back, but can't, so he takes the blow to his self-esteem in stride.

"So, do you want me to uninvite them?" Lance asks tentatively, and gets a bark of laughter that is anything but kind in response.

"I'll let you figure that one out. Go on and get dressed so you'll have time to start your homework, lost cause that it is." Lance goes to his room as quickly as he can without fear of reprimand and shuts the door behind him, tears overtaking him immediately.

* * *

Meanwhile Keith and Shiro are busy making themselves presentable for dinner at the McClain's.

"Shiro, why are you so all over the place?" Keith asks Shiro who is double checking them both for who knows what frantically.

"I want to make a good first impression." Shiro answers, continuing his frantic checking over nothing.

"As long as you don't bring any food that you made you'll be fine." Keith answers and Shiro swats his shoulder jokingly in response to the jab.

"Still."

"Seriously Shiro. You've met Lance and they've met Matt and Pidge, I really don't think _you'll_ phase them." Keith reassures and Shiro raises his eyebrow.

"What about Hunk?" Shiro asks and Keith gives him a deadpan stare.

"Hunk is an anomaly."

* * *

As usual, Hunk is the first to arrive at the McClain household, with a batch of made from scratch lemon bars. He starts to head for the kitchen but Lance heads him off at the pass, causing Hunk to let out an aborted yelp.

"Hunk wa- sorry man, didn't mean to scare you." Lance says apologetically, Hunk shrugs.

"That's okay. What's going on, is something wro-" Hunk cuts himself off when he sees his best friend's face. He knows exactly what's wrong (because his a _good darn_ best friend). "Your dad is here again?"

"What? What do you- how could you _possibly know that?"_ Lance asks, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"We've been best friends since kindergarten Lance. You've had the same look on your face every time your father shows up since we were eight. What do you need?" Hunk asks, concerned.

"I don't know, I guess just play along with his bullcrap. He'll leave on another 'business trip' eventually." Lance answers miserably, putting exaggerated air quotes around 'business trip'. Hunk sighs heavily.

"I hate this." Hunk says.

"Well if it'll make you feel any better you can pound on Drew some more at school tomorrow." Lance snickers and Hunk sputters indignantly.

"I did _not_ pound on Drew! I just... Told him to leave Pidge alone... Sternly." Lance is giggling incessantly now. "Hey, are you gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine." Lance tells Hunk, still giggling.

"Seriously Lance, I know I'm not much of a fighter, but just say the word and I'll take him down for you." Hunk states firmly. Lance composes himself.

"Really Hunk, I'll be okay. Matt and Pidge know the drill, they'll both hate it but they'll do it anyway. Thanks though, that means a lot coming from you." Lance says, the sincerity of his words giving them weight.

"Did I mention that I hate this?" Hunk asks.

"You did." Lance nods.

"I _could_ take him, _really._ " Hunk insists and Lance pats his shoulder reassuringly.

"I know Hunk, I know." Lance reassures. "We should go out there, he's gonna get suspicious." Hunk nods and they go out to the living room. Matt is playing with Luis over by the couch. Malia and Claudia are nowhere to be found, no doubt having escaped earlier. _Traitors._ Veronica is listening to a conversation between Shiro and his dad with rapt attention. _Suck-up._

Wait- _Shiro and his dad_ are talking?! _Crap! I forgot I invited Keith and Shiro over! **Good going Lance.**_ Man, what was he going to do? Keith and Shiro don't know the rules, what if one of them says something to tick off his dad? _Well, at least that probably won't be a problem for Keith. His dad never bothered to learn ASL. Besides, he's hiding from everyone but Pidge who... Is also probably hiding from everyone. Hmmm..._

"Leandro! There you are! Come help me in the kitchen." Lance's mother Rachel calls from the kitchen in a thick Cuban accent. Lance goes into the kitchen. "Are you alright _m_ _ijo?_ I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier, I was out getting some extra groceries for dinner tonight. I didn't know he was planning on dropping in." Rachel whispers in concern, her brows furrowed in anger.

"It's alright _Mami,_ I'll be okay." Lance reassures his mother quietly and Rachel looks her son over, unconvinced. "Really. Besides, it's not like we can do anything about it right now. We just have to wait it out, he won't be here long." Rachel sighs.

"Alright, but you _tell me_ if he crosses a _line.¿Comprende?_ " Rachel asks in a tone that leaves no room for argument.

" _Sí Mami._ I'll be okay." Lance reassures. Rachel gives him one last once over and nods.

"Alright everyone, dinner is ready."

* * *

"So, Lieutenant Shirogane-"

"You can call me Shiro, sir." Haggis' lips twitched into a smirk at the formality. Keith narrowed his eyes in suspicion. _Something is off about this guy, I can feel it._ It didn't help that Lance was looking more tense and quiet than he'd ever seen him. Let alone the matching death glares he was getting from Pidge, Matt, and _Hunk._ He's gotta be _really_ bad if Hunk of all people is giving him that look.

"Alright, Shiro it is, then. So Shiro, how are the two of you settling in? Moving in must have been difficult for you, given the circumstances." His eyes flickered to Shiro's prosthetic and Keith's temper flared at the implications. Shiro tensed, but kept his composure.

"It wasn't too bad, this prosthetic is pretty advanced. Besides, I had a lot of help." Shiro smiled warmly in Keith's direction. Honestly, by the look on his face you'd think he'd saved his life instead of just carrying some boxes. _Crap! Lance's jerk of a father's looking at_ him _now._

"So," _Please don't say my name._ "You're Keith, right? Leandro's friend?" _Who the heck is L- Oh._ Keith shrugs noncommittalay, hoping he'll lose interest and move on. "How's school?"

"He's getting A's in all his classes." Shiro answers with pride clear in his voice. _Shiro, I love you, but can you please shut the heck up?_

_"Really._ Straight A's huh? I've never had Leandro bring home grades like that." _**That's it!**_

"Yeah, well one time I shanked a kid in my group home. I've never seen _Lance_ do _that_ either." He responds without thinking, but can't find it in himself to take it back. Shiro drops his fork in horrified shock and Hunk looks nervous and... Smug? Lance's sister's face is beet red and his mom looks strangely amused. Lance looks stunned. And Matt and Pidge are trying _very_ hard not to laugh, with Matt failing miserably. Pidge recovers first.

"It's true, in all my years of knowing him I've never seen him shank a guy." Only to add fuel to the fire. _Eh, I'm already in enough trouble, might as well finish it off._

"Guess we all have our strengths and weaknesses." Keith challenge. Shiro hisses his name under his breath in reprimand, blushing furiously. Matt excuses himself to the bathroom so he can get his uncontrollable laughter out of system. Haggis is now glaring daggers at Keith.

"Does anyone want a lemon bar? They're made from scratch."


	2. Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Dang, 3 subscriptions in an hour. Y'all really wanted that comfort, huh?
> 
> Me too, here you go. :)

"Keith. _Keith!_ What was _that?_ " Shiro demanded as Keith finally stopped his tirade down the breezeway.

"What?" Keith asked in feigned confusion.

"Don't 'what' me. What you said back there was completely rude and disrespectful!" Shiro stated furiously.

"So is implying that an amputee is completely helpless, but I don't see _him_ apologizing." Keith snapped back and Shiro flinched.

"That's not the point! We were their guests-"

"We were _Lance's_ guests, and Lance didn't even know he was coming!" Keith retorted and Shiro deflated slightly.

"You don't know that-"

"I was at school with him all day. He was his usual all over the place loud annoying self, I think he might've even been in a better mood than usual. Then at dinner he said _maybe_ two words and he couldn't look at his dad." Keith said with a solemn look on his face and Shiro deflated entirely.

"Keith," Shiro started, but Keith stopped him.

"I may be bad at social cues but I know what an abusive parent looks like." Keith finished, returning to his usual soft tone. Shiro sinks to the ledge of the breezeway, Keith sitting next to him silently as Shiro rubs his face with his human hand.

"There's no chance that you're wrong?" Shiro asked weakly, and Keith gave him a flat look.

"He insulted his son in front of his friends." Shiro let out a heavy sigh.

"Yeah..." They let the silence hang for a few moments before Shiro broke it. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"It's okay." Keith practically whispered, not looking his brother in the eye.

"I _mean_ it. He definitely had it coming, I understand why you said it." Shiro stated firmly.

"Thanks." Keith replied, a faint smile on his face.

"That's not why I was mad anyway. If it were up to me you could go off on any scumbag you wanted. But Dr McClain has a lot of influence, and if he's as much of a jerk as he seems to be he might be petty enough to use it." Shiro explained, fear flashing across Keith's face.

"You think he might get me taken away from you?" Keith asked in alarm, and Shiro rushed to reassure him.

"Whoa whoa whoa, _no._ It'll be fine, we'll figure it all out." Shiro attempted to reassure him.

"But are you sure-"

" _Keith!_ There you are!" Keith turned his head toward the voice. It was Lance, clearly out of breath. "I was looking for you."

"Why?" Keith asked quietly and Lance looked like he was in shock.

"What you said earlier- since when did you start talking by th- never mind, doesn't matter. But umm... what you said back there, it umm..." For once he seemed at a loss for words. Keith raised his eyebrow. "It was... really cool. I haven't- what I'm trying to say is- ugh! Is this how you feel all the time?!"

"Pretty much." Keith answered with a smirk and Lance deflated.

"Well that... sucks. No wonder you're so grumpy all the time." Keith started to defend himself. "But really... Thanks. Your support means a lot."

"You sound like a PBS sponser." Keith responded.

"Hey! That was some quality gratitude right there!" Lance defended himself, then he registered the look on Keith's face. "You're joking aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Man, did we switch places or something? First you put your foot in your mouth at dinner, practically my trademark. Then I can't figure my words, and now I'm not _getting jokes?_ What is going on?!" Lance asked hysterically.

"Hey! I get jokes." Keith stated indignantly and Lance snorted.

"What about that chant I tried to start the other-"

"It made no sense!"

"Dude I literally told you how to do it-"

"Why couldn't we just call it science class? Who even makes up a chant for _science class-"_

"Hold on a second, I just got a text from Pidge. We're invited to dinner since, and I quote, 'You are such idiots! Everyone knows that you wait until after you eat to say something like that. Amateurs". That seems directed at you, why didn't she send it to _your_ phone?" Lance asked, confused.

"I don't have a cellphone." Keith answered.

"Hey Shiro, can you two go to dinner at the Holt house?" Lance asked and Keith rolled his eyes.

"Sure, why not." Shiro answered, Keith already walking towards the Holt's apartment. He and Lance lag behind..

"My dad won't do it, by the way." Lance said, the complete non sequitur throwing Shiro off guard.

"What?" He responded intelligently.

"Get Keith taken away from you." Lance elaborated, and Shiro slumped a little with relief. "My mom and doctor Holt would never let that happen."

"Thanks. I know it seems silly but he's my brother y'know?" Shiro answered and Lance nodded. There's a very brief silence. Then-

"Hey, do you think he really shanked a guy?" Lance asked curiously and Shiro scoffed.

"Do you think he could come up with that if it wasn't true? On the spot?" Shiro asked and Lance laughed.

"Yeah, good point." There almost at the apartment when- "Hold on, but that means he actually shanked a guy. Keith shanked a guy?!"

"Do you mind keeping it down a little? That's not really something you want to shout." Shiro asked and Lance winced.

"Yeah, true. Oh! We're here."

* * *

Colleen was surprised to hear the front door open, the kids weren't supposed to get home for another hour (at least). Her eyes narrowed in suspicion when she heard giggling as they walked in.

"Hey mom." Matt called cheerfully, which only made her more suspicious. Don't get her wrong, she's always glad to see her kids happy. But Matt had been having a rough day, and since they got home early...

_Something's definitely up._ "So, how was dinner?" When they both spontaneously burst into giggles again, she knew her suspicions were right. "Okay, what's going on? What did you do?"

"Nothing." Matt responded with a surprisingly genuine look of honesty. She turned to Katie, who automatically put her hands up in mock-surrender.

"Hey, I didn't do anything either." Pidge defended with a look matching Matt's.

"Then what has you both in such a good mood?" Colleen asked, perplexed. The two siblings shared a look.

_"We_ didn't do anything." Pidge answered mischievously.

"What has Lance gotten himself into this time?" Colleen asked with a fondly exasperated sigh.

"It wasn't Lance this time." Matt said, Katie muttering 'surprisingly' under her breath, but Colleen ignored her.

"Then who was it? I know it wasn't Hunk." 

"It was Keith." Matt said with smug grin. Colleen raised her eyebrows.

"You're kidding me. Your new friend who I've heard say about five words altogether?" Colleen asked, skeptical.

"Yup!" Katie said, a look of utter delight on her face.

"Wha-" Colleen started before she was cut off.

"Doctor Deadbeat decided to drop by unnanounced." Matt explained, the disgust evident in his voice. Colleen's eyes narrowed in both understanding and anger.

"What did he say?" She asked, and Matt and Katie retold the story together, no doubt embellishing. Colleen could barely keep the grin off her face when they told her what Keith said. "I wish you'd recorded that, the look on his face must've been priceless."

"It was, he looked like he was gonna burst a vessel." After a couple minutes of laughter they all turned somber.

"Was Lance alright? Is there anythin-" Colleen started, going into 'Mom mode'.

"He's about as good as can be expected. But he might need to stay over at Hunk's." Matt said and Katie shook her head.

"He can't, Hunk was supposed to stay at his place, his mom's out of town." Katie said, then looked at her mother hopefully. "Can the-"

"Yes, Hunk and Lance can stay over until the coast is clear." Colleen answered her daughter's question, rolling her eyes fondly when she her already sending a text to Lance. "Did any of you eat before this happened?"

"Did w-"

"No, idiot couldn't wait until after-"

" _Katie._ Is that really called for?" Colleen scolded.

"It's practically a term of endearment at this point." Katie waved her off, not even looking up from her phone. Colleen was about to give a retort to that when she heard a knock. She opened the door to an anxious looking Hunk holding a plate of lemon bars.

"Hi Dr Holt. Do you mind if I hang out for a little bit? I brought homemade lemon bars." He asked, lifting the plate for her to see. Colleen smiled at him fondly.

"Of course you can honey. Katie already asked if you and Lance could stay over." Colleen reassured and Hunk's shoulders sagged in relief.

"Thank you ma'am. I'm sorry for the short notice." Hunk apologized.

"Kiddo, I'm pretty sure you're the only one who even bothers to ask permission anymore, you're fine." Colleen reassured him again.

"Oh, umm. Keith and Shiro are coming over too. Is that okay?" Katie asked a little tentatively and Colleen sighed.

"Yes Katie, it's fine." She replied, as Matt finally noticed Hunk.

And the lemon bars. "Oh awesome! Lemon bars." Matt exclaimed, but hesitated to take one. "Um, are those by any chance-"

"Gluten free? Of course they are, who do you think I am?" Hunk scoffed as if it was a ridiculous question. Hunk may not have been the most confident person, but his baking was a whole other story.

"Thanks man, you're the best!" Matt exclaimed, already starting on his first one, Hunk blushed at the praise.

"It was nothing." He replied. As Matt was about to respond there was a tentative knock on the door.

"Who on earth is that?" Matt asked, baffled by the quiet almost nonexistent knock.

"Lance is coming over remember?" Katie asked with a flat look.

"Yeah but I've never heard him knock like that. Or anyone else we know for that matter." Matt retorted, opening the door. Keith jumped, fist half raised like he was about to knock again. _That makes a lot more sense. Of course Keith would knock like the person on the other side of the door would jump out at him,_ Matt thought. "Hey Keith, welcome to the party." Matt greeted him cheerfully. Keith wasn't making eye-contact (what else is new _[seriously, he's like the poster-child for undiagnosed autism]_ ), but Matt noticed something different.

Usually Keith stared at the floor when you talk to him (no judgement here, just observation), but right now he was looking somewhere else. Matt tried to track Keith's sightline as subtly as he could but any pretense of subtlety was thrown out the window when he realized that Keith was looking at Matt's wrist. The sleeve had ridden up. _Crap!_ He tried to discretely shove it back down. _Maybe he didn't notice?_ If Keith noticed Matt's panic he didn't say anything, which Matt appreciated. At this point he just gestured for Keith to come in awkwardly, giving himself a minute to get himself together.

"Hey guys! Look who I brought?" _Saved by the Lance._

"Lance? Is that you? I haven't seen you in so long, I barely recognize you." Matt greeted him draMATTically (he could practically _feel_ Pidge's eyeroll).

"I know, I had to take a long and treacherous journey to get here. Need. Waater." Lance intoned, every bit as melodramatic as Matt. Matt caught him as Lance pretended to collapse.

"What is it you require little one?" Matt asked and Pidge groaned loudly while Shiro snickered, being used to Matt's antics and having participated in the past.

"Need... Dessert." Lance replied in a fake feeble voice.

"Hunk! Quickly!" Matt said.

"On it!" Hunk replied, playing along.

"Alright boys, that's enough." Colleen interrupted in an amused voice. "Lance, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Um, okay." Lance answered nervously. He followed Colleen into the kitchen, experiencing deja vu.

"Are you okay, Lance? Do you or your mom need anything?" Colleen asked, compassion and concern coloring her voice.

"I'm okay." Colleen looked unsure. "Really. But thank you." Colleen sighed sadly.

_Meanwhile in the living room..._

"You did not!" Shiro exclaimed in disbelief.

"I really did." Pidge responded.

"You're seriously telling me you hacked into Dr McClain's email and sent a group email to the staff at the hospital he works telling them he had gout?!" Shiro asked in delighted disbelief.

"Yup." Pidge replied with a smug smirk on her face.

"I've never been so proud of her." Matt said, wiping fake tears from his eyes. Keith was still eyeing him in a way that made him nervous.

"What did you do to him?" Shiro asked.

"What makes you think _I_ did something to him?" Matt asked in mock disbelief, and Shiro leveled him with a flat look.

"Nine years of experience, spill." Shiro stated.

"Well, it was pretty simple really. He tried to pull the same bullcrap that he did with Keith except he offered me an internship. Obviously I accepted." Matt started.

"You _accepted?"_ Shiro asked, appalled.

"Hold on, I wasn't done. I accepted and when it was time for the interview I took Lance to McDonald's. Which is how I got a job there, coincidentally." Matt finished and Shiro smiled.

"I should've known." He shook his head fondly.

"What about you, Hunk?" Hunk was startled by Keith's voice, still not used to hearing it from the boy who was so often silent. _His voice is much softer than I was expecting._

"What about me?" Hunk asked, confused.

"Did you do something?" Keith asked.

"What? No!" Keith just gave him a look and Hunk sighed. "Okay... I _may_ have given him cookies with miralax in them." At this Shiro and Matt burst out laughing.

"Ah man, that's great." Shiro said breathlessly.

"It would've been better if Lance hadn't eaten half of them. He said it was 'worth the risk', what is it with you people and your complete disregard for your own safety?!" Hunk exclaimed, and Matt and Shiro just laughed harder. Keith gave him a small shrug, as if he wasn't part of this. Even though Hunk _knew_ that at least part of the milk incident Matt had talked about for weeks had to be true.

"We have to have something in common, don't we?" Matt asked and Hunk threw his hands up in surrender.

"I give up! All of you are hopeless." Hunk said in defeat.

"Who's hopeless?" Lance asked as he and Colleen walked back into the room.

"Oh no one. We were just talking about all of the best Haggis McClain smackdowns." Matt answered.

"Ah man, that was great. I haven't heard stories this good since camp." Shiro said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. Matt got a mischievous grin on his face.

"You haven't even heard the best one, yet." Matt told him. Colleen eyed him suspiciously.

"Who?" Shiro asked curiously, and realization dawned on Colleen's face.

" _Matt._ " She warned sharply.

"What?" He asked in feigned innocence.

"You _know_ what." She replied.

"What's going on?" Shiro asked, confused.

"Mom just doesn't want you to hear the last one." Matt said, mischievous grin widening.

"Matthew Holt, don't you _dare._ " Colleen warned.

"Either you tell or I tell." Matt challenged boldly (stupidly).

"Okay, but it doesn't leave this room. Understand?" She got a chorus of 'yes ma'ams' and a beaming smile from Matt in response. "When we first moved here I had to work with Haggis. I had already met the whole McClain family at this point, and I knew something was off. It took a couple of weeks before I worked out what. A kid was brought in, and he needed a heart transplant, but his family didn't have insurance or the money. Haggis refused to help, so I may have gone behind his back and taken the patient on myself. He ended up finding out and was furious. Coincidentally, there were some residents shadowing him that day. He told me that it was _his_ patient and _his_ decision whether or not we took it on. And... I told him _'Excuse me for not trusting the safety of a child with a man who won't even take care of his own!'_ " By the time she was finished she had a sheepish look on her face. Shiro had made the mistake of taking a drink of the water he had gotten earlier at the exact moment she told the last line, coughing hard from choking on it after doing a massive spitake.

"Well any doubt that you're Matt and Katie's biological mother is gone now." Shiro said after getting his coughing under control. Lance went to sit down.

"Scooch over mullet, you're hogging the couch." Lance demanded, and Keith complied with a frown.

"Why won't you stop calling me that?" Keith asked.

"Don't fight it, it'll only make it worse." Pidge responded.

"Speaking from experience?" Keith asked.

"I was drawing a picture of a pigeon and I labeled it 'pigeon', so dummy over here thought it was my real name. Now I'm stuck with it." Pidge responded.

"You know you like it." Lance teased, Pidge giving him a death glare.

"Don't tell me what to do." Before a fight could start Hunk intervened.

"Hey, at least it's not as bad as mine. My real name is Henry, but when I went to the first day of kindergarten I introduced myself as Hank for some reason, I don't know. For some reason when I met Lance he heard it as Hunk instead of Hank. No one's called anything but Hunk except my mom since." Hunk told and Lance pouted.

"I thought you liked it." Lance said.

"I do, buddy. But it isn't really a normal nickname." Hunk reasoned.

"It's unique-"

"How'd you get yours?" Keith asked, stunning Lance into momentary silence.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"How'd you get your nickname?" Keith elaborated. Lance looked embarrassed and Pidge had a mischievous look on her face. _This should be good._

"Funny you should ask-"

"Please no Pidge have mercy! I'll call you Katie."

"Too late, Pidge is starting to grow on me. Anyway as I was-"

"I'll tackle you!"

_"Try me."_

"He got Lance Armstrong mixed up with Neil Armstrong." Matt said.

"Matt?!" Lance and Pidge cried out in unison. Before they could continue, a quiet sound interrupted them.

Keith was laughing.

"Of _course_ the first time we hear you laugh it's at my expense." Lance said mournfully.

"To be fair, the first time we heard him talk was to defend you." Hunk added and Pidge turned her gaze to Keith, eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, what's up with that? I thought you didn't speak, verbally anyway." Pidge asked sharply.

"Why would you think that?" Keith asked, infuriating Pidge further.

"You said-"

"You asked me which form of communication I preferred, not whether or not I could speak." Keith asked and Pidge opened her mouth to retort before closing it abruptly.

"Dang it! I don't have an argument for that. Why would you choose ASL if you don't have to though?" Pidge asked and Keith shrugged.

"It's not all the time. Some days I can, some days I can't. It kinda comes and goes." Keith responded honestly. And Pidge got a contemplative look on her face.

"Okay, it's getting late so we really need to go ahead and eat dinner." Colleen urged and everyone started for the kitchen. She squeezed Lance's shoulder as she passed.

_With friends like mine maybe everything will be okay,_ Lance thought to himself, going into the kitchen with a faint hopeful smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! Your support means the world to me, as always.  
> I don't have any recommendations for this chapter currently unfortunately. But I hope you enjoyed :)  
> Okay, so after this fic it's going to be increasingly difficult to understand what's going on without having read the rest of the fics, as this forms into an actual series.  
> So going forward most of the fics I'll be posting won't work as stand-alones.  
> Feedback is amazing. Kudos make me happy dance, and comments give me life. Feedback is appreciated in all its forms so feel free to give it whatever way works best for you :) (except hating, obviously)
> 
> P.S. Don't worry, Haggis will be going down epically eventually. But it WILL take awhile. I guess it's a good thing I'm in it for the long haul, I hope some of you are too :)  
> P.P.S. In case anyone's curious, yes Haggis IS a an entitled neurotypical white man.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Sorry I'm such a mess :)  
> Thank you so much for your patience on this one, as you can see this is going to have a second part dealing with the fallout. I'm not sure how long it will take, sorry, but thank you for sticking with me through this.  
> You are all SO AMAZING! Please don't forget that! And if any you have experienced or are currently experiencing emotional abuse, PLEASE KNOW that your feelings are valid! You're not crazy, the pain your experiencing is very real and no one is allowed to tell you otherwise. And above all, EMOTIONAL abuse is STILL ABUSE.  
> Just because you can't see the scars doesn't mean they're not there. They're just as real as physical ones. If anyone knows any hotlines please leave them in the comments.  
> On a different note, I do not speak Spanish, so if you do speak Spanish and notice an error, please let me know.


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